


New York Minute

by der_tanzer



Series: Moments in Time [4]
Category: Riptide (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-26
Updated: 2010-05-26
Packaged: 2017-10-09 17:59:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/90061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/der_tanzer/pseuds/der_tanzer
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Murray has enough moral support to go back to New York.  A good time is had by all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	New York Minute

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Quoshara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quoshara/gifts).



> Last year, when I was writing the Moments in Time fics, darling Quo asked to see Murray go to an East Coast conference with his two handsome men on his arms. It took this long, but here it is. Happy birthday, babe! Hope it brings the happy.  
> 

It had been two years since Murray last attended a conference in New York, or anywhere on the East Coast, and his nervousness was equaled only be his excitement at being the keynote speaker. He fidgeted in his seat on the plane all the way to Chicago, and when they landed at O'Hare, he couldn't get to the connecting gate fast enough. Of course there was a two hour layover, so he paced most of the time and barely restrained himself from biting his nails.

His nerves were partly over the speech he had to give, but mostly because he hadn't shown his face at once of these events since Marvin Stein told everyone they'd spent a wild, dirty weekend together at the Four Seasons. There weren't a lot of gays in their scientific circles, and Murray had thought when he exchanged blow jobs with Marvin at the Holiday Inn that fear of outing himself would keep him quiet, but somehow Stein had pulled it off. He'd managed to get their colleagues focused on the idea of Murray as a sexual aggressor, somehow overlooking the fact that it took two to rock the Four Seasons. Or even the Holiday Inn.

But Murray wasn't entirely unhappy. For the first time ever, Nick and Cody were with him. They were sitting by the gate, watching him pace and taking turns clearing their throats whenever he tried to bite his nails. Tonight the three of them would share a suite at the Madison, and tomorrow they would walk into that conference room together. He'd gotten them speaker's guest passes so they could sit in the front row, hopefully somewhere in the vicinity of Marvin Stein, and for the first time they would get to see Murray in his natural environment.

"Murray, babe, come sit down," Cody called. People turned to look, as if curious who this lovely blond man's babe might be, and their collective surprise when geeky little Murray went to him was worth the price of the plane ticket.

"I should call Mama," he said as he sat down between Nick and Cody. "I hate being here in town and not going to see her."

"We'll see them on the way home," Cody said, squeezing his knee. Their return trip included an overnight stay in Chicago, and they were going to take Murray's parents out to dinner.

Murray nodded, brushing his cheek against Cody's shoulder as the curious glances faded away.

"Still—I guess I'm a mama's boy at heart. I hate being this close and not even saying hello."

"I know," Cody said, and he did, although his own attitude was based more on not wanting to hurt his mother's feelings. Nick had nothing to add to the subject of mothers, and so abstained.

Murray resumed fidgeting, bouncing his knee under Cody's hand until his friend gently reminded him to stop. Nick went and got him a magazine and a cheese sandwich, but not, Murray noticed, the Mountain Dew that he'd asked for. It looked like it was going to be another caffeine free weekend.

They put Murray in the aisle seat for the flight to New York and he took full advantage of the ability to go to the bathroom every fifteen minutes. Cody, who was in the middle, kept him from getting that Mountain Dew, but saw no reasonable objection to him drinking about a gallon of iced water. Nick wanted to try and stop him, but decided it was better than the fidgeting. He just stared out the window at the clouds, hoping these technogeeks weren't going to laugh at him the first time he opened his mouth. All he could think about was the High-Q party and how he hadn't understood a word anyone had said all day, even the jokes.

He waited until Murray got up and went to the john again, then turned to Cody.

"Man, remind me again why I'm doing this."

"Because he hardly ever asks for anything. Come on, it'll be fine. Just look pretty and keep your mouth shut."

"See how pretty you are when I split your lip," Nick muttered. "Come on, Cody. What are we going to say to people there? You really think putting on a jacket and tie is going to make us fit in?"

"Nick, we don't have to fit in. We just have to be there for Murray. And maybe punch out this Marvin Stein character if he starts anything."

"That I can do." Nick never really admitted it, but he was angry that someone would do something so cruel to a trusting guy like Murray. When he imagined himself in a similar predicament, outed to his Guard unit over a one-nighter with a guy that he thought had as much to lose as he did, it made his skin crawl.

But what Nick really wanted was not to see this Dr. Stein at all, and spend as much time as possible alone in the hotel room with his lovers. They'd been together barely two months, hardly long enough for the three of them to get comfortable with their new roles, and the time away from friends and prying eyes was what convinced Nick to actually go. He also knew how much Murray wanted to attend this conference, and that he'd never get up the courage to go alone. Murray had actually turned down the invitation to be the keynote speaker, but when the second choice cancelled at the last minute, the sponsors asked again and this time he had Nick and Cody backing him. When they agreed to go, he accepted and started writing his speech.

Cody smiled easily when Murray returned to his seat. There was a sudden bout of turbulence and Cody took his hand, pretending that he was more afraid than he was to cover the fact that he wanted to keep Murray still.

"Are you okay?" Murray whispered.

"I don't really like flying," Cody said simply.

"Oh. Well, turbulence is no big deal." He began explaining why and Cody showed more interest than he normally would, just to keep Murray from drinking and fidgeting. And to keep holding his hand. Around them, other men were holding onto each other, and Cody wondered how many of them were genuinely frightened, and how many were looking for an excuse.

By the time the shaking stopped, Murray was sitting calmly and Nick was looking at them with mocking eyebrows.

"You've never asked me about turbulence," he observed. "I know it's not like I'm a pilot or anything, but…"

"Can you blame me for wanting to get my science from a scientist?" Cody asked mildly. Murray gestured to the stewardess for another glass of water and Cody grabbed his hand again. "Let's wait a minute, huh, Boz? You're not thirsty already, are you?"

"Hmm? I guess I'm just a little nervous. Are we landing soon?"

"Twenty minutes, maybe. Just sit still, buddy. It's okay."

"Yes, I know. I'm not worried, I just—okay, I'm worried. I haven't been there in so long and everyone knows why…"

"I know, Murray. That's why we're here. No one's going to hurt you or insult you or even look at you funny when we're around."

"You can't stop them," he said quietly.

"Maybe not," Nick put in. "But we can sure as hell make 'em regret it if they do."

***

There was a rental car waiting at JFK and Murray rode in the back while Nick drove them into the city. They went straight to the hotel, finding their way easily with the directions from the rental car agent, but the closer they got, the more edgy Murray became.

At the front desk of the Madison, he stood behind Nick and Cody, even though the reservation was in his name, and kept his eyes down in case the clerk had any raised eyebrows for the three grown men who were sharing a suite with two beds. There was some murmured talk of folding out the sofa, and Cody fielded that with his usual smooth panache. Then the bellboy was taking their bags and Murray, blushing foolishly, followed them to the elevator.

The desk clerk had handled them with dignity, but the bellboy quirked his eyebrows and made quite a show of demonstrating the light switches, the sofa-bed, and the faucets in the shower. When he got to turning down the blankets on the king bed in the main room, smirking under his mustache as if they couldn't see, Nick gave him a quarter and told him to get lost.

There was a small alcove bedroom with a double bed, the suite being intended for a family, and Murray felt a strange twinge, as if he should volunteer to sleep there. But that was stupid. He was the one who brought them together, the one who got them all into bed in the first place, but he still felt out of place at times. Even though they built the big bed in the stern cabin, even though almost never made love without him, he still worried.

"Something wrong, Boz?"

"No, Cody. I was just wondering what—where I should…"

"Put your computer down somewhere and relax."

He blushed darker and set it carefully on the table.

"How can you be so relaxed?" Murray asked shyly.

"Why not?" Nick asked in return. "Think about it, buddy. You really give a damn what that little twerp of a baggage handler thinks? Or anyone else in this city, for that matter? Who cares if everyone in New York knows we're sharing a room?"

"Well, this _is_ an international gathering, guys. Pretty much everyone I've ever worked with, or ever hope to work with, is here somewhere. Marvin Stein is here, and he's probably talking _right now_."

"So maybe if people see us together, they'll at least tell the truth," Cody said with a bright smile.

Murray sighed in defeat, but he was smiling, too.

"Okay, now that we've got that settled, what are we doing today?" Nick asked. "Any sites we want to see or anything?"

"I want to go over my speech again," Murray said. "If you guys want to go out, you should."

"There's nothing I need to see," Cody said, giving Nick a significant look. "In fact, I'm a little bit tired from the flight. Maybe we could just hang out here for a while and then go someplace nice for dinner."

"Oh, well, if you guys are tired, I'll go in the other room and work on this," he said, giving them an out.

"No," Nick said, very nearly calling his friend a moron. If it had been Cody, he would have. "That's not what he meant, babe."

"Oh?" Murray cocked his head and pushed up his glasses curiously. "What did you mean, Cody?"

"He meant we should get naked and try out this bed," Nick grinned. "It'd be our first time on dry land."

"Oh." Murray blushed again, starting to wonder how long the human body could sustain that kind of heat. Then he thought of the heat they could be generating a few minutes from now and sweat popped out on his forehead.

"Something wrong?" Cody asked, slipping an arm around him.

"No. No, there's nothing wrong," he stammered. Cody led him over to the bed and began to undress him. Nick wasted no time before joining in.

***

Nick and Cody were relentless. They kept Murray up until midnight, switching back and forth between gentle teasing and ruthless double teaming. That was one of his favorite things, to lie flat on the bed and accept a brutal pounding that made him come screaming, then take the other right away, before he came down from the first. His body was still tingling, his heart racing, his tight passage slick with Cody's spend as Nick pushed into him and made him come again. It was followed by an hour of petting and kissing, gentle, soothing caresses that made him feel safe and loved, and then they were on him again, Nick holding his arms while Cody fucked him into the mattress and the two of them trading places as soon as Murray came. When Nick was finished, he lay down on Murray's back and kissed him until Murray shook him off. He wanted to go to sleep now, and his friends were tired enough to let him.

In the morning, the three of them traded blowjobs in the shower and then ordered breakfast from room service. Murray was wrung out but contented, his nervous energy finally dissipated, and when they left for the conference, he was only bouncing a little.

It seemed like everyone turned to stare when Murray walked into the conference room of the Sheraton in his new suit and tie, flanked by two incredibly handsome, well-dressed men. He only faltered a little, when he was showing them to their seats and caught Marvin Stein's consternated glare. It was then that he realized what had been going on all along, why Stein had told that story, and how he, Murray, had played right into his hands. He glared back and escorted his lovers to the front row, holding his head up high.

"Aren't you supposed to be up there?" Cody asked, nodding to the row of people already seated on the stage.

"Yes, but I have a minute," Murray said, sitting down between them. "I just wanted to tell you that the geek in the gold plaid jacket and green pants is Marvin Stein, and I understand it now. I'm going to have a little chat with him when this is over, believe you me."

"Wow," Nick whispered, looking Stein up and down. "Even for a geek that guy's—geeky."

"Yes, but he has—or _had_—some brilliant ideas on microcircuitry. You know science talk makes me—well, I enjoy it."

"We've noticed. And that's your field, isn't it?" Cody said, giving his knee a friendly squeeze. It did not go unnoticed, but Murray didn't care. If he was going to be thought of as a gay slut, people may as well know that he could do better than a plaid Green Bay Packer if he wanted to.

"Yes, that's the point. I have to go, but you guys will stick around, won't you? I—I'm sorry, but I really need you to be here where I can see you."

"Sure," Nick said, sensing that he was the one Murray doubted most. He put his arm around Murray's shoulders and felt him trembling just a little. "We'll be here, babe, don't you worry. Just go on up there and make your speech and we'll be right here."

"Thanks, guys." He lowered his voice and nuzzled Nick's ear subtly. "I love you," he whispered, then turned and repeated it to Cody. They squeezed his knees in silent reply and he got up, his confidence restored. As soon as he was gone, Nick slid over into his seat and sat up straight, shoulder to shoulder with his lover.

"Look at him," Cody whispered as they watched Murray mount the steps to the platform. "He's so brave, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I don't know if I could do that," Nick agreed, thinking again about facing his Guard unit as an outed gay man. "And he's the best looking geek up there, isn't it?"

Murray stood out among the stripes and plaids in his dark brown slacks and jacket, a neat blue bow tie topping his white shirt.

"He really is," Cody agreed. "But we need to stick close when this is over, because these people are going to swarm him."

"You think so?"

"I think so. If he's lucky, it'll just be congratulations. But it might be trash talk, and if it is, we need to get him out of here quick."

"Yeah, okay." Nick nodded, then looked up and caught sight of Murray's worried expression. He flashed a reassuring grin and Murray smiled back hesitantly. The small smile faded quickly, though, and before they could wonder why, Cody caught a blur of gold plaid in his peripheral vision and Marvin Stein was sitting beside him.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Stein," he said cheerfully, offering his hand.

"Doctor," Cody said politely, shaking his hand. "I'm Cody Allen and this is Nick Ryder."

Nick leaned around him to shake briefly, his eyes cold and hard.

"I saw you talking to Dr. Bozinsky. He's a friend of mine, you know."

"Is that so?" Cody asked, not sounding terribly interested.

"Yeah, we've all been wondering why he stopped coming to these things. I was the keynote speaker last year, after he turned it down. Dr. Trevor Ellis was the first choice this year, but he got sick. They asked me, but I didn't feel like it."

"Is that so," Cody said again. "We heard Dr. Bozinsky was the first choice and Dr. Ellis took over when he refused."

"Where'd you hear that?" he asked, suddenly sounding a little unsure of himself.

"From Dr. Bozinsky," Nick said dryly.

"So how do you know Murray?" Cody asked. It was playing with fire, but he really wanted to hear what this man would say.

"Oh, we've been friends forever. We even—uh—had a little affair a couple of years back. But I had to break it off. He was getting too clingy and I needed my freedom."

"Is that right," Nick said.

"Oh, yeah. He's a great guy, but I didn't want to get tied down."

"Huh," Cody said noncommittally. "That would've been about the time he stopped coming to these conferences, right?"

"I guess so," Stein said, sounding surprised, as if he'd never thought of that before. "Poor kid must have been too heartbroken to want to risk seeing me. He did take it hard when I ended things."

"Is that right," Nick repeated. His face was still impassive, but inside he was seething.

"His loss, I suppose," Cody murmured.

"So how do you know him? I saw you come in together, but I don't believe I've ever seen you before."

Nick and Cody exchanged a look, asking each other silently how they would answer, or even if it was their place to. But in the end, they didn't have to say anything. An older man approached the microphone, talked for a few minutes, and then introduced the first speaker. Stein applauded in a blankly false manner and listened with glazed eyes as a scrawny man in a white tuxedo spoke at length about the possibilities of something called the internet that would soon connect computers all over the country.

The next speaker gave a presentation on replicating the thought patterns of the human brain, which Nick dozed through and Cody understood just enough of to be scared. It might have its uses, but he wasn't thrilled with the idea of competition.

Then it was Murray's turn and Cody elbowed Nick awake for the moral support. They applauded eagerly, gaining a shy smile as Murray shuffled his index cards. Then he started talking, and they were lost at once. But they still leaned forward in their seats and watched him with rapt attention, keeping their eyes fixed on his face so he would know they were right there with him. With any luck, he would never know how little they understood, or even how little it interested them.

Marvin Stein was staring at him, too, but not in a friendly or interested way. Murray faltered every time he caught Stein's eye, and after a few minutes, he started focusing only on Nick and Cody. His smile returned under their attentive nods, and he finished his speech confidently. He fielded a few questions afterwards, and then the audience began filtering out to the conference room next door, where refreshments were set out and informal discussions would continue.

His friends waited for him, but Stein, sensing that there was a relationship there that he didn't understand, went with the crowd to the other room.

"Well, how was I?" he asked eagerly, bouncing on the balls of his feet again.

"You were great, Boz. I've never seen you handle a public interview that well," Cody said, clapping him on the back.

"Really? Thanks. So, did you have any idea what I was talking about?"

"Not a clue," Nick said. "But you never thought we would, right?"

"No, not really. You guys want to go to the reception? I really need to put in an appearance, but if you want to go back to the hotel…"

"No, no way," Nick said quickly. "We came to be with you." What he meant was that they would never let Murray walk into that room full of gossips, and a possible showdown with Marvin Stein, all by himself.

"You're so sweet," he whispered, blushing faintly at the memory of last night. And this morning. There was no question that they'd come to be with him, and they hadn't let him down.

"Yeah, well, we can't let you walk into that den of scientists all alone."

"Well, we don't have to stay long. There are just a couple of people I want to talk to." By then the room was mostly empty, and touched Cody's arm lightly before going on. "I saw you talking to Marvin Stein. You didn't say anything, did you? About us?"

"No. We figured you'd tell him anything he needed to know."

"Hopefully he won't want to talk to me at all," Murray said quietly and they went to the reception together.

They were intercepted several times on the way to the refreshments table, and though Nick and Cody didn't get anything out of the conversations, they stayed loyally by Murray's side. He introduced them to everyone as his partners in the detective agency, but none of the computer scientists were terribly interested in that. Gradually, they made their way to the appetizer buffet where Murray could nibble cheese and deviled eggs while he discussed his thoughts on microprocessors and the future of artificial intelligence.

Stein held back for a while, until the group had broken up a bit, then eased in to say hello. Murray blushed helplessly but managed to be civil, knowing that the half dozen or so people within hearing already knew the story.

"I'm a little surprised you made it, Mur," he said, and Murray swallowed hard. He hated when anyone besides his partners called him that.

"Why're you surprised?" he asked, stepping back so his arm pressed lightly against Nick's.

"No reason, I guess. You just haven't been to the East Coast for a while."

"I've been pretty busy. But they seemed desperate for a speaker this year, and when my friends agreed to come, I thought it would be a fun vacation."

"They, uh, came with you?" Marvin asked, his eyes darting from one big man to the other.

"Oh, yes. Didn't they introduce themselves? Marvin, this is Cody Allen and Nick Ryder, my partners in the Riptide Detective Agency."

"P—Partners?"

"That's right. We've been friends for a long time, haven't we guys? Ten or twelve years?"

"That's right," Nick said quietly. "And we've been what you might call _full partners_ for a couple of months now. And we know all about _you_, Dr. Stein."

"You know…?"

"We know what you did to Murray," Cody supplied. "We know that your version of an _affair_ is a one night stand, and that breaking it off means telling nasty stories about him to everyone you know. And we also know that you did it to shame him out of coming to these things, so you could take his place."

"Oh, hey, wait a minute. You only got one side of that story. Murray, we had something special, didn't we?"

"Special? No. We didn't have anything but a one night stand, which you turned into a means to humiliate me and try to ruin my career. I knew you for six months, we met three times, and you most certainly were never my friend. In fact, the thing I'm most ashamed of is that I ever let you touch me at all."

"Really? And these guys are, what, your boyfriends? These muscle-bound, pretty boy morons who probably never have the slightest idea what you're even talking about?"

"Buddy, you're not helping your case," Cody said, taking a casual step sideways, making Marvin turn to face him. Cody's eyes met Nick's, and Nick stepped back just a little, too, leaving Murray standing there by himself. Murray looked from one to the other, his face a picture of hurt at their physical desertion, in spite of their supportive words.

"I'm not talking to you, blondie. Come on, Murray, why don't we just go talk someplace? We could have a couple drinks, maybe drop by the Four Seasons."

"It was a Holiday Inn, and I'm not interested. See, these _are_ my boyfriends and I don't care if they aren't scientists, I still have a lot more in common with them than I ever will with you. Not that you're much of a scientist anyway," he added. "Why do you think they didn't ask you to speak this year? Your technology is so far behind, it's laughable."

"Laughable? You're shacked up with a couple of California beach boys and _I'm_ laughable?"

"I think you'd better take that back," Nick said evenly.

"I think you'd better go on down the street to the comic book shop. You'll fit in a lot better there, won't you?"

Murray looked at them again, waiting for them to close ranks around him, and feeling his heart break a little when they didn't.

"Fella, why don't you just walk away now?" Cody said. "Murray's the top dog today, people are waiting to talk to him, and I don't think you want them overhearing all the stuff that might get said if you stick around."

"What, you think you can defeat me with your verbal repartee?"

"No," he said, taking a half step closer to Marvin. Marvin was skinny but tall, and not about to back down in front of all these people. He stepped up to close the distance, and Cody held his ground. When enough people were watching, Marvin poked him in the chest, confident that no one Cody's size would actually hit a skinny nerd with taped glasses in front of all these people.

"Buddy, I'm giving you one more chance," Cody said evenly. "Walk away. Now."

"What are you gonna do? Hit me? Is that how you guys solve your problems out there in California? Honestly, Murray," he added, turning to the object of the argument at hand, "I'd have thought even you could do better than this."

Murray said nothing, still looking from one lover to the other, wondering why they had moved away from him and why they were just standing there. Wondering if he would have to hit Marvin himself, and if he could do it without breaking his thumb.

"All right, I've had enough of this," Marvin said and tried to shove Cody out of the way. He was surprised when the bigger man didn't give at all. He'd expected to make him wobble a little, at least but Cody stood firm. Nick tensed, prepared for what had to come next, but Murray, who still didn't recognize their stance, was lost. Marvin shoved Cody harder, but got the same total lack of result. It was like trying to push down a building with his bare hands.

A circle had gathered by now, his friends and colleagues who knew he'd used Murray and failed to gain the success he'd wanted by it, and now they were seeing him fail to get around this pretty man in the yuppie shirt. But Cody wasn't fighting back and that gave him an advantage. If Cody wouldn't hit a nerd, that made it safe for the nerd to hit him.

Marvin pulled back his fist and swung high and hard, a blow that would have glanced off Cody's cheekbone, had it connected. But Cody brought his hand up and caught it, Marvin's fist slapping into his palm with a resounding smack. They were frozen for a second, giving Marvin just enough time to wonder if Cody was going to crush his hand like Lenny did to Curly in _Of Mice and Men_, and then Cody was releasing him with just a little shove. The slightest pressure was enough to throw Marvin off balance with his hand above his shoulder like that. He took one long step backward and his heel struck something that shouldn't have been there, an obstruction that didn't belong in that expanse of smooth floor. He caught a glimpse of Nick's grin from the corner of his eye and knew what they'd done, the oldest trick in the book. Pinwheeling his arms, he fell back into the table, landing squarely in the punchbowl and taking the whole thing down. Everyone was staring at Marvin and no one saw Nick pull his foot back and slide away. They hadn't really seen Cody push him, either, so only Murray knew what had really happened.

A couple of people were stepping in to help Marvin up while the waiters ran for mops and buckets, and Murray distanced himself a little, joining Nick and Cody a few feet away.

"That was really boss," he whispered. "Thanks, guys."

"Hey, anything for you," Nick said, patting his back lightly. Cody squeezed his hand and they moved apart, as if they had any secrets left from the group around the broken table.

A tubby, nerdy looking guy with greasy hair walked up to Murray, his face filled with intent, and all three detectives tensed. But the tubby nerd grinned and held out his hand.

"Dr. Bozinsky, I'm Albert Schulz. I've been working on a similar project, trying to expand the base memory in my portable processing unit and I'd love to get your input."

"Oh, sure. Guys, do you mind?"

"No, you go ahead," Nick said with a grin. "We'll just be over there, where there's still punch." He and Cody wandered off in the direction of an intact table, and Albert watched them go.

"So—you and those guys are—partners?"

"Oh, yes. We have a detective agency in King Harbor… And that's not what you meant was it?"

"Hey, it's none of my business. But Marvin's been doing a lot of talking and, well, it's nice to see him get his for once."

"Nick and Cody are good for that," Murray agreed. "So, tell me about your processor. What kind of memory are you running now?" They migrated to another part of the room and collected some food, forgetting all about Marvin, who was being escorted out while the mess, which he was being blamed for, and would have to cover the cost of, was cleaned up.

***

"Did you have a good time?" Nick asked Murray as they walked to the parking garage.

"Yeah, I really did. Thanks so much for coming with me, guys. I owe you big for this."

"You don't owe us anything," Cody said, slinging an arm across his shoulders. "We had fun, too, didn't we Nick?"

"Oh, yeah. I love knocking a guy on his ass and getting away with it."

"You did, didn't you? I couldn't believe no one saw what happened. Everyone was talking about how clumsy he is, and how weird it was that he just fell over—I think they forgot all about the rest of it. Except Albert. He said it was too bad I was taken."

"Albert? That greasy little guy with the bad toupee?" Cody asked.

"He's a nice guy. He wants me to call him if we ever break up. I wouldn't, of course, but it's nice to feel wanted."

"Wouldn't which?" Nick asked. "Break up with us, or call him?"

"Either one. But he did have a lot to say about micro-memory chips. He was part of the team that helped put calculators in digital watches."

"Impressive," Cody said, as if he was really interested. But Murray knew he wasn't and wisely let it drop.

"So, do we want to do anything fun tonight?"

"I want to do something fun back at the hotel," Nick said. "Maybe we could stay in and order room service. If you're up for it, that is," he added, with a meaningful look at Murray.

"Room service? Sure, why not?"

"No, the other fun," he laughed. "We weren't too hard on you last night?"

"Oh, not at all. I—I had a great time." He was blushing again and Nick opened the front door of the car for him so the teasing could go on uninterrupted. Cody got in back and leaned over the front seat to wrap his arm around Murray's throat, whispering dirty things in his ear while Nick stroked his skinny thigh. By the time they got to the hotel, Murray was uncomfortably hard and had to button his jacket when they got out of the car.

The three of them hurried across the lobby, Cody giving the desk clerk his bright, confident smile in response to the young woman's questioning look, and then they were in the elevator. There were probably security cameras, but it didn't stop Nick from pushing Murray up against the wall and kissing him breathless. As soon as the elevator stopped, they were dragging Murray down the hall and Cody barely got the door open before Nick was on him again.

This time, they didn't go for the bed. Nick propelled him over to the dresser and pinned him up against it, kissing him hard. In just a couple of minutes, their nice clothes were scattered all over the floor and Nick and Cody were arguing playfully about who would go first. Murray liked the arguments, they made him feel like the most desirable man in the world, and he didn't care who won. He was almost always the receptive one in bed, or on the dresser, and though Nick and Cody were alone together sometimes, they seemed to prefer fucking him. He knew it was because both of them liked topping better, but that was fine with him. It meant he would always be included.

In the end, it was Cody who turned him around and bent him over the dresser while Nick went back and forth, kissing them both. Cody was gentle enough, taking his time with the preparation and using a lot of lube, but he didn't do the things that Murray liked best, that Cody _knew_ he liked best, and resting there with the edge of the dresser biting into his forearms, Murray was confused. When he tried to angle his body so Cody would hit his sensitive gland, strong hands held his hips still. He moaned and pleaded for more, but the hard thrusts only grew faster and shallower, swift and short and teasing, driving him wild with no hope of satisfaction.

Murray was nearly sobbing when Cody finally broke and delved deeply, striking his prostate and wrenching a high, happy cry from his throat. Nick's hand wrapped around his neglected erection, and Murray thrust into it eagerly, right on the edge. Cody was fucking him just the way he needed, hard and fast and deep, while Nick's thumb rubbed over and over the head of his cock, pressing gently into his leaking slit, and every muscle in his body was clenching, preparing for release. Then, so suddenly he could hardly understand it, it was over. Nick let go, Cody withdrew, and Murray collapsed on the dresser with an anguished cry. His balls hadn't hurt this badly since he was a teenager, and he thought he might throw up.

But there were hands on his back, sliding down his hips, and he turned his head in time to see his friends trading places. Nick was pushing into him and every nerve in his body shrieked with pleasure that wouldn't be denied. He was going to come this time, whether they wanted him to or not. But this time they did. Nick gave it to him good and hard while Cody crouched between his feet, his back against the dresser, and took Murray's cock in his mouth. It was a whole different feeling for both of them, with Nick behind Murray, fucking him down Cody's throat, and Murray came with a frantic shout, thrusting so hard that Cody had to grab his thighs and hold him back. But he kept sucking, swirling his tongue and swallowing as Murray shot against the back of his throat. This time when Murray collapsed, it was with a contented groan. He didn't even realize Nick was finished until Cody got up and took his place. Murray flinched as Cody entered him, his body all atremble, and Cody's hands slid up his back, rubbing gently as he thrust, slow and easy, using his whole body to soothe Murray and bring him back down.

Nick joined in, stroking Murray's neck and kissing Cody while he rocked deep inside their friend. Murray moved with him, moaning soft encouragement, wanting to make it as good for Cody as it had been for him. When he felt Cody start to come, he clenched his muscles and thrust harder, as pleased with Cody's gasping cries as he had been with his own orgasm.

"You guys," he murmured as Cody withdrew and helped him straighten up. "You always have a surprise for me, don't you?"

"We want you to be happy," Cody said, kissing the back of his neck. "You're so generous with us, it's the least we can do."

"It's not really generosity when I like it so much," he said, ducking his head shyly and then feeling embarrassed about being shy.

"Why don't we debate this later?" Nick said, taking Murray's hand. "Right now what we need is a shower and some sleep. It's been a long day."

Cody grinned and grabbed Murray's other hand. "Yeah, and with any luck, it'll be a long night, too," he said, and they moved a little faster toward the bathroom.


End file.
